Projects:Orange Pi 4 Workstation

Project: Workstation computer fulfilling Goal:Technology - built using Orange Pi 4 and running Linux.

[i] Abandoned. Orange Pi 4 has too little RAM (4 GB) to serve as the main workstation in 2021.

Requirements

• open source software
  • ability to build all of the components and utilities from source
• standalone and independent
  • ability to build on the target hardware in order to be independent
• up-to-date software
  • mainline kernel (with only a few necessary patches)
  • actively maintained distribution
• No black-box binary blobs

Hardware

Details: Orange Pi 4 Hardware

• ☑ multiple 64-bit ARM cores which provides enough horsepower for common tasks
• ⚠ 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM is sufficient for common tasks, but only one at a time. In my experience (in 2020), 8 GB of RAM is borderline usable for running all the common apps simultaneously.
• ☑ 1 Gbps Ethernet & WiFi & Bluetooth for solid connectivity
• ☑ tiny form factor frees up lots of space (compared to a standard desktop tower PC)
• ☑ low power consumption makes this cheap to run
• ☑ low noise levels thanks to a single slow running fan

(!) The Orange Pi 4 board is only usable with a strong and reliable power source!

USB-C and the barrel DC connector behave differently. When powering the board through USB-C the system booted. Using the barrel connector did not boot the board.

Using a USB power meter (current and voltage monitor) in between the Orange Pi 4 and the power source also resulted in booting to hang.

Software

Experimental Stage

• ☑ Armbian on Orange Pi 4 works sufficiently nice with regards to mainline Linux support, hardware support and stability (as of 2021).

Target Stage

• Mainline Linux on Orange Pi 4
• Arch Linux ARM on Orange Pi 4